prisons

The coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the labor market have pushed many prison staffing systems into crisis

“They didn’t know what to do with us,” says Jermaine Archer, who caught COVID while incarcerated at Rikers Island. The New York City jail holds people pretrial and has faced criticism for deaths and crowded conditions. NBC New York’s Kay Angrum was live outside after 2 counter-protesting groups spoke on behalf of corrections workers and the incarcerated.

Pope Francis has called for “more humane” prison life in the wake of bloodshed in a prison in Ecuador in which 118 people died and dozens more were injured.

A top DOJ official cited the more than 40 suspected or confirmed homicides of Georgia prison inmates in announcing the civil rights investigation.

The California’s high court has ruled that prison inmates cannot legally possess marijuana behind bars under the state’s 2016 law allowing recreational pot.

Here’s how one nonprofit is helping the formerly incarcerated become entrepreneurs.

Federal regulators are considering allowing state prisons across the country more technological options to combat contraband cellphones.

Texas death row inmate Quintin Jones is scheduled to be executed May 19. But Jones is pleading to Gov. Greg Abbott for clemency, telling the New York Times contributor Suleika Jaouad that he is a different person than he was 2 decades ago. Jones was put on death row after confessing to the murder of his great-aunt. His family has...

California is giving 76,000 inmates the opportunity to leave prison earlier

The report provided new details on last spring’s catastrophic decision to move inmates from the California Institution for Men east of Los Angeles to San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco. The inmates were put onto buses for the more than 400-mile (680 kilometer) trip and the tight quarters increased the risk of infections spreading.

Connecticut’s unionized prison guards expressed anger Wednesday over what they say is the lack of a plan to vaccinate them against COVID-19. Jody Barr, the executive director of AFSCME Council 4, said the union was told there would be a plan to vaccinate prison employees by early January, but they have yet to hear when they might get the vaccine,…

Connecticut Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe said the Biden Administration’s plan to increase vaccine allocation means an increase from 46,000 to 53,000 first doses per week for at least the next three weeks.

One in every five state and federal prisoners in the United States has tested positive for the coronavirus, a rate more than four times as high as the general population.

Connecticut officials are paying $250,000 and admitting no wrongdoing in a settlement of a lawsuit brought by a state prison inmate who gave birth on a toilet in her cell and claimed she was denied medical care, according to details of the agreement obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday. Attorney General William Tong’s office provided the AP with a…

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Alabama over conditions in the state prisons

Another inmate in the Department of Correction system has died of complications related to COVID-19, department officials said Monday. Officials said the 67-year-old man was transferred from the MacDougall-Walker Medical Isolation Unit to the hospital on November 26. He died Sunday. This is the 10th COVID-19-related inmate death reported since the pandemic began, according to data released by the department….

An inmate in the Department of Correction system has died of complications related to COVID-19, department officials said Friday Officials said the 44-year-old man was transferred from the MacDougall-Walker Medical Isolation Unit to the hospital on October 15. He died Friday. Officials said the man had underlying conditions. This is the ninth COVID-19-related inmate death reported since the pandemic began,…

An inmate in the Department of Correction system has died of complications related to COVID-19, department officials said Wednesday. Officials said the 45-year-old man was transferred from Osborn Correctional Institution to the hospital on October 15. He died Wednesday. He is the first COVID-19 related death since May and the eighth since the pandemic began, according to the department’s COVID-19…

In many states across the country, people with felony convictions are prohibited from voting, or only allowed to vote under certain conditions, even after they’ve served their sentence. Jay Jordan, who served time in prison as a young man and is currently the Director for Californians for Safety and Justice, explains how limiting their rights hurts more than just former...

Since coronavirus entered the U.S., nearly 16,000 have fallen ill of COVID-19 and 134 have died. That number does not include people incarcerated in state prisons across the U.S. The Marshall Project’s criminal justice reporter Keri Blakinger explains why the general public should care about protecting people in prisons.